Happiness comes Naturally
by Linrei26
Summary: For six months Emma, Henry and Regina have been working together in Operation Mongooze. For six months Emma experienced what is it to have her own family. Maybe is time for her to realize what happiness actually feels like. Swan Queen. One shot.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own OUAT.

**A/N:** Hello Swen! This little one-shot is placed just at the end of the last episode, six months in the future. Swanqueen.

Warning: mention of CS and anti-cs.

**Happiness comes Naturally**

Six months later.

In Millfin Street, Regina Mills arranged her hair with her fingers before coming down to eat breakfast. Six months had passed since she say goodbye to her "soul mate." When she thought about Robin she didn't feel longing anymore, she felt… nothing really. She had put her entire happiness in her relationship with Robin, but with him gone, Regina realized that her happiness was not with him. She had moved on, and right now she was looking forward for living her life, and maybe found her happy ending somewhere else.

"Regina!" She heard a female voice calling her from the first floor. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and raised her voice to respond as well.

"Emma, how many times have I told you to not scream in the house?" Regina chastised walking through the hallway to the stairs.

"Sorry! It's just that I cannot find the maple syrup."

"It's in the right shelve, dear."

"I know, but it is empty. You said you were going to buy one last week." Regina stepped in the kitchen watching the blonde stand in her toes to try to look better for the sweet treat.

"You said you were going to buy it, dear. Wednesday night, when you use it to do french toasts, remember?" Regina said crossing her arms while watching the Sheriff jump in surprise when she heard Regina standing behind her. Emma frowned in delivery and sighed in defeat when she remembered that she was the one that was supposed to buy it.

"Oh right, sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, dear, I'm not the one that likes to eat their pancakes with maple syrup. You should apologize to Henry." Regina said taking a sit in the breakfast table.

"What does ma have to apologize for?" Henry asked walking in the kitchen. He leaned down to drop a kiss in his mother cheek and took a sit right next to her. Emma placed two plates with pancakes in front of both Mills members and gave Henry and apologetic smile.

"There is no syrup."

"Ma! You said you were going to get it." Henry whined looking at his mother with disappointment.

"I know, sorry. I'll get one today." Emma said sitting with her own plate in front of Regina.

"Now, what am I suppose to do with these pancakes?" Henry gave his ma his best doggy eyes. Emma was about to give in and announce that she was going to go and buy the syrup when Regina interfere.

"You are not going anywhere, dear." She said looking at Emma with amused eyes. Then she took a jar of apple jelly that was sitting in front of her and scoop some of it in her fork. She smeared the stick mix on top of Henry's pancakes just like she had done in hers a couple of minutes before and address her son with authority. "Your mother is not going to buy you anything at this hour. She has to go to work, so eat your pancakes." Henry stared at his pancakes with hesitation, but after a while he decided to give it a try. He took a bite of his pancakes and smiled at the result.

"Not bad mom, is not as good as the maple syrup but it will do." He said while filling his mouth with more food. Emma pouted at his response and scoot closer to the table.

"Not fair, I want to try them." As if by reflex Regina cut a piece of her pancakes with jelly and lifted it in her fork as for Emma to take it. She didn't realized what she had done until Emma's eyes looked for her own in surprise. She was about to remove her hand when Emma lean over and took the offered piece of pancake in her mouth. They both remain in silence for a while until Emma took the jar of jelly and proceeded to put some of it in her own pancakes.

"I agree is delicious." Emma said with a shy smile.

"I'm done! Bye mom, bye ma!" Henry said grabbing her bag and running out of the kitchen.

"Have a great day!" Emma and Regina said at the same time. They both chuckled in amusement and turn back to their breakfast.

"Are we going to talk about the fact that you once again have stolen one of my shirts?" Regina asked lifting a sculptured eyebrow to the blonde.

"Sorry, I forgot to bring clean clothes from Mary Margaret's. I will stay there tonight so don't make me dinner ok?" Emma said while drinking a bit of coffee from her mug. She loved the coffee Regina made. "I have been looking for an apartment. I don't think I can postpone this anymore."

Regina hummed in response, while taking a sip form her own coffee. She stared a while at the blonde and them simply said:

"Or you can simply move in here." Emma almost choked with her pancakes. She coughed a couple of times and when her throat was free of dangerous impediments she looked at Regina with surprised eyes.

"What?"

"Let's face it, dear. You have been staying here more often than not."

"I'm sorry I didn't want to impose." Emma said with embarrassment. Regina sighed and looked up to meet Emma's shy gaze.

"I'm not complaining Emma, I'm just stating a fact. In the past month you stayed with us for fifteen days. My guest room is practically filled with half of your belongings. I just think that if you really want to move out from your parents' house you could stay with us more permanently."

"But…"

"Let me finish please. I know it's a bit strange, but I have actually got used to your presence in here Emma. I like the fact that when you stay here there is no need to arrange schedules with Henry because he can come back home with both of us. I also know that you have been looking for an apartment for six months now, but you have postponed moving out for a reason. I'm not sure what that reason is, but you obviously do not have problem staying here with us. I'm not asking to commit in any way with us, because I already know you are afraid of commitment dear, I'm just asking you to consider the option." Regina said with all her politician flare. _Damn, she had a point_. Emma bit her lower lip while she thought about it. There was nothing to think about really. She liked living there with Henry. The problem was that she liked living with Regina as well and that kind of freak her out a little.

"Ok, I'll think about it. Thanks for offering Regina."

"You're welcome, dear." Regina said while standing up.

"Wait, where are you going?" Emma asked afraid of saying something that might have hurt Regina in a way.

"I'm doing some errands today, dear. Enjoy your day at work Sheriff, and if you change your mind about dinner, I'm going to do lasagna today." Regina said while disappearing through the kitchen door. Emma sighed in defeat. This was going to be a long day.

xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx

For lunch she practically ran to Granny's diner and rushed to bring Ruby to sit with her while she ate. She had wanted to tell someone, but she didn't want to talk about it with David or Mary Margaret. She needed a second opinion and she needed it fast.

"Ok, woman what is it? You look like you had seen the Evil Queen… oh wait you have!" Ruby said with a chuckle while Emma scowled at her in disapproval.

"Ha ha very funny. I've told you not to make jokes like that."

"So the scared face is not because of Regina?" Ruby asked, knowing the answer before handed. "Ok, what did she do this time."

"She didn't do anything she… she asked me to move in with her and Henry." Emma said quietly still not believing what happened early in the morning.

"Oh, well she does works fast! I will have to tell Snow that she thought about it first." Ruby said stealing a sip from Emma's milkshake. Emma frowned at her words and shook her head in puzzlement.

"Wait what?"

"Snow told me to imply you the idea to ask Regina to allow you to move in with her, but since Regina already did it I guess there is no need for me to be subtle." Ruby shrugged enjoying the surprised face in the blonde Savior. "Snow thought that you wanted to move in with her."

"What? Why?"

"She said that you have been postponing to get an apartment, but still you spent a lot of time at Regina's, so she thought that maybe what you wanted is to live with them at her house."

"She really was ok with me living with them?"

"So she was right?"

"No! Well not really…"

"May I ask why you didn't want to find a new apartment?" Ruby asked with curiosity. Emma's shoulders sagged immediately and she sighed in annoyance.

"Killian."

"What does the slutty pirate has to do with anything?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"Well… He might have implied that if I were to live in my own department we could meet more… privately…" Ruby stared at her in bewilderment for a while.

"Wait, you two haven't…?

"Yes we have, but…"

"But…" Ruby prompted with curiosity. This was getting interesting.

"Only three times." Emma confessed with a grimace.

"Three times in six months?! Holy shit Emma you are a prude!" Ruby exclaimed in surprised. Emma scowled at her words and glared at the werewolf in admonishment

"I am not! I just don't…"

"What?"

"He… I haven't… enjoyed really…"

"Oh my God this is awesome! Someone as promiscuous as Hook is bad in the sack!" Ruby said enjoying the information a little too much. She didn't like the pirate at all.

"He is not promiscuous!"

"Emma sweetie, before you got together, he flirted with every woman in town." Ruby said trying not to sound too judgmental, she didn't succeeded. The guy was a douche, it was not her fault Emma couldn't see that.

"That is not the point. H e was not bad, I just… When he obviously enjoyed I… faked my enjoyment…" Ruby almost remarked the fact that Emma seemed incapable of talking about sex openly, but decided to save that for later and attack the subject at hand.

"Do you love him?" Ruby asked eyeing Emma with expectation. There it was. Doubt. Uncertainty. Distaste. Ruby rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Emma if you don't love him, why are you with him?"

"It's called dating Ruby."

"I know, but by now you should know if he is really a person you love. You have spent six months dating him! Why?"

"I don't know ok!" Emma said running her hand through her hair in exasperation. She honestly couldn't tell why she was with him. Hell, she didn't even know why she started dating him in the first place.

"It's nice to have someone to hold me and kiss me before I go back…" Home. "To Regina and Henry." Home… Since when the Mayoral manor had become her home? It was absurd. She felt more at home at Regina's house than with her own parents. Someone may argue that Regina didn't feel the same, but she knew that the brunette felt the same. At first Regina refused to be seen in her pajamas, but with time she even invited both Emma and Henry to play board games on her bed.

"I can practically smell your fear Emma, what are you thinking about?" Ruby asked after a while.

"Living with Regina feels…"

"Constricting?"

"Domestic…" Emma said with a frown earning an "ow" from Ruby. She couldn't deny it, but simply thinking about it was making her want to run away as fast as she could. There was something different in their relationship as well. Something stronger and deeper, but either of them had bothered to stop and think about it.

"Emma I'm going to be as direct with you as possible." Ruby said taking a big breath. "Do you love Regina?"

Oh shit…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

When Regina opened the door of her house at night she was surprised to find the lights on. Earlier that day, she had received a call from Emma asking for permission to have Henry for the day. She had agreed, so she didn't expected nobody at home when she arrived.

"Henry, Emma?" She called at loud, and as a response she heard a loud cluttering coming from the dining room.

"Regina! I didn't expect you so early!" She heard Emma's panicking voice and she couldn't help but imagine the worst scenario possible. She pictured Emma and Hook making out, or worst, in her dining room. "Please tell me you are robbing me." It was way better than what she had imagined before.

"What? No." Regina took that as a signal to move closer. She walked through the living room and gasped when she entered the inning room. The room was dimly lighted with candles, and the table was arranged and settled with the expensive crockery. Where did Emma found her expensive tableware was beyond her. Her eyes immediately landed on said blonde and she felt her heart jump in her chest. Emma was dressed in a killer red dress in high hills. The blonde gave her a shy smile and she couldn't help but return it.

"Hello, dear. May I ask what is going on here?" Regina cleared her throat noticing how low and husky her voice had just sounded. Emma blushed profusely noticing immediately the sound of Regina's voice.

"I… thought that we could uh… celebrate?" Emma said wincing at her own question.

"And what are we celebrating exactly?" Regina asked moving closer to the blonde, who moved to handing her a glass of wine. Her favorite…

"I well… I thought about your proposal and… I will love to live here with you and Henry." Emma said shyly and Regina's smile couldn't grow bigger in response.

"That are good news indeed, dear." She said with enthusiasm. "What do your mother and boyfriend think about your decision?" Regina regretted her question as soon as she said it. If there was something she hated in this world, was hearing Emma talk about the handless wonder, but she couldn't stop herself from asking. She was a masochistic after all.

"Mom, was ok with it, Hook well…" Regina was surprised to hear Emma talking about the pirate as "Hook" she had called him Killian since they had started dating. "He was mad." Emma had gone and told Hook about her decision and the pirate had reacted in anger. With what right? "I broke up with him."

"Oh, good…I mean…" Regina quickly corrected herself recovering from her surprise. "Are you ok?" Emma smirked happily at Regina's slip. She always knew Regina disliked the pirate.

"I'm fine. I'm celebrating remember? Why do you hate him so much?"

"He did stood there and watched while a crazy man tortured me to death, dear. I think I have all the right to dislike him." Emma frowned at her words. She didn't know that. She wished she could go back a couple of hours back and punch Hook in the face for daring do that to Regina. "Are you sure you are ok?" Emma smiled hearing the concern and care in Regina's voice. She smiled at her and took one more step closer to the witch.

"Yeah, 100% sure."

"May I ask what happened?"

"Let's just say that someone gave me another possibility and I was glad to take the chance." Emma said noticing how Regina's body went rigid all of the sudden. Regina took a sip from her wine while Emma studied her reaction in silence.

"Regina…"

"Yes…"

"Six months ago, I joined Operation Mongoose with you and Henry, and I promised you that I was going to help you find your happy ending. We have been looking for the writer of the book, but if you ask me I think we were mistaken." Emma said with determination written in her features.

"What do you mean?"

"Instead of looking for someone that could write you a happy ending, we should have look a way to make you happy." Emma said with a small smile. "I was wondering… would you let me try?" Regina gasped at her question. Emma could read her confusion, so she decided to make herself clearer. She lifted her hand and cupped Regina's face in hers and prompted chocolate eyes to meet with her green ones. "I've never been this happy before. Living with you and Henry… Maybe… just maybe you could be as happy as I am. I might not be your soul mate, or your true love, but we are family and if you want to, I could try to be your happy ending as well next to Henry. What do you say?"

Regina lifted her hand and placed it over Emma's, giving the woman the most heartwarming smile she had ever felt. "You said it yourself, darling, it's your job to give me my happy ending."

"Is that a-?" She couldn't finish. Before she could tell, Regina's soft lips were pressed against hers in the most delicious way possible. She moaned when she felt Regina pulling apart, not wanting to end the contact just yet. "…Yes?" She finished with dreamy eyes.

"Is that how it tastes?" Regina asked in amazement with dazzled eyes.

"What?"

"Happiness." Regina said with a smile that crept out in Emma's lips as well. The blonde leaned down and stole another quick kiss and hummed in agreement.

"Weird… to me it tastes like love."


End file.
